41% of Jersey pensioners live abroad

Monday 18 September 2017

More than 13,000 pensioners taking a States pension are not currently living in the island.

Figures released by a Freedom of Information (FOI) request have revealed that there were 31,650 people receiving an island pension of up to £209 per week in 2016.

But nearly 42% of that number – 13,014 – were no longer living in Jersey.

At present, people can claim Jersey social security pensions from the age of 65 if they have paid contributions for at least four and a half years. To gain a full pension – £209.93 per week - residents will have had to contributed for around 45 years.

Pictured: Pensions received by those choosing to live abroad - whether for warmer climates or family reasons - represent around 18.6% of the total paid out in pensions.

Those pension payments depend on length of contribution, rather than where workers might choose to retire.

While 41% of people in receipt of an Old Age pension are based abroad, this represents 18.6% of the total money paid out in pensions, according to the Social Security Annual Report 2016. That’s because people residing overseas tend to have a lower average pension of around £48.64 per week, compared to the Jersey-based average of around £100 more.

For those that have paid social security contributions both on the island and in another country, Jersey is still often able to pay a pension due to a number of agreements with countries as far afield as Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica, New Zealand and the USA.  

Pictured: The full list of countries Jersey has pension agreements with.

Jersey also has agreements with several countries to tax income only in the nation in which pensioners are resident: Australia, Estonia, France, Republic of Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK.

If only those residing in Jersey were entitled to receive a pension, this could have a, "...significant impact on our population and healthcare provision in the Island,” according to Minister for Social Security, Deputy Susie Pinel.

She told Express: “One of the fundamental principles of our Social Security scheme is that it is designed so that people pay into it during their working life, and are then protected in old age. Our Old Age Pension can be paid overseas because people can choose to retire wherever they wish. There will be many people receiving a pension in other countries because they have decided to move away as they have become older, maybe to be somewhere warmer or nearer to children and family, but who have lived and worked in Jersey their entire lives.

Pictured: Deputy Susie Pinel, the Minister for Social Security, said that the island's population and healthcare provision would suffer if only Jersey-based people were allowed to draw a States of Jersey pension.

“It is important to note that even though 41 per cent of people receiving a Jersey Old Age pension are living overseas, this only represents 18.6 per cent of the total money we pay out in pensions. This is because people living overseas have a lower average pension: £48.84 per week compared to £148.58 per week for Jersey based pensions in 2016.”